And Hathach came back and gave Esther an account of what Mordecai had said.

And they said these words to Mordecai.

So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had said.

Now on the third day, Esther put on her queen's robes, and took her place in the inner room of the king's house, facing the king's house: and the king was seated on his high seat in the king's house, facing the doorway of the house.

Then the king said, What is your desire, Queen Esther, and what is your request? I will give it to you, even to the half of my kingdom.

And Esther in answer said, If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the feast which I have made ready for him.

Then the king said, Let Haman come quickly, so that what Esther has said may be done. So the king and Haman came to the feast which Esther had made ready.

And while they were drinking wine the king said to Esther, What is your prayer? for it will be given to you and what is your request? for it will be done, even to the half of my kingdom.

Then Esther said in answer, My prayer and my request is this:

If I have the king's approval, and if it is the king's pleasure to give me my prayer and do my request, let the king and Haman come to the feast which I will make ready for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.

And Haman said further, Truly, Esther the queen let no man but myself come in to the feast which she had made ready for the king; and tomorrow again I am to be her guest with the king.

Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, Let a pillar, fifty cubits high, be made ready for hanging him, and in the morning get the king to give orders for the hanging of Mordecai: then you will be able to go to the feast with the king with a glad heart. And Haman was pleased with the suggestion, and he had the pillar made.

And the king said, What honour and reward have been given to Mordecai for this? Then the servants who were waiting on the king said, Nothing has been done for him.

Then the king said, Who is in the outer room? Now Haman had come into the outer room to get the king's authority for the hanging of Mordecai on the pillar which he had made ready for him.

And the king's servants said to him, See, Haman is waiting in the outer room. And the king said, Let him come in.

So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What is to be done to the man whom the king has delight in honouring? Then the thought came into Haman's mind, Whom, more than myself, would the king have pleasure in honouring?

And Haman, answering the king, said, For the man whom the king has delight in honouring,

Then the king said to Haman, Go quickly, and take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, who is seated at the king's doorway: see that you do everything as you have said.

And Mordecai came back to the king's doorway. But Haman went quickly back to his house, sad and with his head covered.

And Haman gave his wife Zeresh and all his friends an account of what had taken place. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, If Mordecai, who is starting to get the better of you, is of the seed of the Jews, you will not be able to do anything against him, but you will certainly go down before him.

And the king said to Esther again on the second day, while they were drinking, What is your prayer, Queen Esther? for it will be given to you; and what is your request? for it will be done, even to the half of my kingdom.

Then Esther the queen, answering, said, If I have your approval, O king, and if it is the king's pleasure, let my life be given to me in answer to my prayer, and my people at my request:

For we are given up, I and my people, to destruction and death and to be cut off. If we had been taken as men-servants and women-servants for a price, I would have said nothing, for our trouble is little in comparison with the king's loss.

Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, Who is he and where is he who has had this evil thought in his heart?

And Esther said, Our hater and attacker is this evil Haman. Then Haman was full of fear before the king and the queen.

Then the king came back from the garden into the room where they had been drinking; and Haman was stretched out on the seat where Esther was. Then the king said, Is he taking the queen by force before my eyes in my house? And while the words were on the king's lips, they put a cloth over Haman's face.

Then Harbonah, one of the unsexed servants waiting before the king, said, See, the pillar fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who said a good word for the king, is still in its place in Haman's house. Then the king said, Put him to death by hanging him on it.

And she said, If it is the king's pleasure and if I have his approval and this thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing to him, then let letters be sent giving orders against those which Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, sent out for the destruction of the Jews in all divisions of the kingdom:

Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, See now, I have given Esther the family of Haman, and he has come to his death by hanging, because he made an attack on the Jews.

And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have put five hundred men to death in Shushan, as well as the ten sons of Haman: what then have they done in the rest of the kingdom! Now what is your prayer? for it will be given to you; what other request have you? and it will be done.

Then Esther said, If it is the king's pleasure, let authority be given to the Jews in Shushan to do tomorrow as has been done today, and let orders be given for the hanging of Haman's ten sons.

And the king said that this was to be done, and the order was given out in Shushan, and the hanging of Haman's ten sons was effected.

The Jews made a rule and gave an undertaking, causing their seed and all those who were joined to them to do the same, so that it might be in force for ever, that they would keep those two days, as ordered in the letter, at the fixed time every year;

And that those days were to be kept in memory through every generation and every family, in every division of the kingdom and every town, that there might never be a time when these days of Purim would not be kept among the Jews, or when the memory of them would go from the minds of their seed.

Giving the force of law to these days of Purim at their fixed times, as they had been ordered by Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen, and in keeping with the rules they had made for themselves and their seed, in connection with their time of going without food and their cry for help.

For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and respected by the body of his countrymen; working for the good of his people, and saying words of peace to all his seed.

And at the end of their days of feasting, Job sent and made them clean, getting up early in the morning and offering burned offerings for them all. For, Job said, It may be that my sons have done wrong and said evil of God in their hearts. And Job did this whenever the feasts came round.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Where do you come from? And the Satan said in answer, From wandering this way and that on the earth, and walking about on it.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil?

And the Satan said in answer to the Lord, Is it for nothing that Job is a god-fearing man?

Have you yourself not put a wall round him and his house and all he has on every side, blessing the work of his hands, and increasing his cattle in the land?

And the Lord said to the Satan, See, I give all he has into your hands, only do not put a finger on the man himself. And the Satan went out from before the Lord.

And a man came to Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses were taking their food by their side:

And this one was still talking when another came, and said, The fire of God came down from heaven, burning up the sheep and the goats and the young men completely, and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

And this one was still talking when another came, and said, The Chaldaeans made themselves into three bands, and came down on the camels and took them away, putting the young men to the sword, and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

And this one was still talking when another came, and said, Your sons and your daughters were feasting together in their oldest brother's house,

Then Job got up, and after parting his clothing and cutting off his hair, he went down on his face to the earth, and gave worship, and said,

And the Lord said to the Satan, Where do you come from? And the Satan said in answer, From wandering this way and that on the earth, and walking about on it.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil? and he still keeps his righteousness, though you have been moving me to send destruction on him without cause.

And the Satan said in answer to the Lord, Skin for skin, all a man has he will give for his life.

And the Lord said to the Satan, See, he is in your hands, only do not take his life.

And his wife said to him, Are you still keeping your righteousness? Say a curse against God, and put an end to yourself.

And he said to her, You are talking like one of the foolish women. If we take the good God sends us, are we not to take the evil when it comes? In all this Job kept his lips from sin.

And they took their seats on the earth by his side for seven days and seven nights: but no one said a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

Job made answer and said,

Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.

And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,

Lifting up those who are low, and putting the sad in a safe place;

You will be certain that your seed will be great, and your offspring like the plants of the earth.

And Job made answer and said,

So have you now become to me; you see my sad condition and are in fear.

When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light.

Then Bildad the Shuhite made answer and said,

And Job made answer and said,

If I say, I will put my grief out of mind, I will let my face be sad no longer and I will be bright;

My soul is tired of life; I will let my sad thoughts go free in words; my soul will make a bitter outcry.

Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said,

And Job made answer and said,

Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad.

And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,

Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?

And Job made answer and said,

Then Bildad the Shuhite made answer and said,

He is overcome by fears on every side, they go after him at every step.

And Job made answer and said,

I am broken down by him on every side, and I am gone; my hope is uprooted like a tree.

Whom I will see on my side, and not as one strange to me. My heart is broken with desire.

Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said,

Though evil-doing is sweet in his mouth, and he keeps it secretly under his tongue;

He is pulling it out, and it comes out of his back; and its shining point comes out of his side; he is overcome by fears.

Then Job made answer and said,

Their ox is ready at all times to give seed; their cow gives birth, without dropping her young.

Though they said to God, Go away from us, for we have no desire for the knowledge of your ways.

The earth of the valley covering his bones is sweet to him, and all men come after him, as there were unnumbered before him.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said,

Who said to God, Go away from us; and, What is the Ruler of all able to do to us?

And Job made answer and said,

If only I had knowledge of where he might be seen, so that I might come even to his seat!

My feet have gone in his steps; I have kept in his way, without turning to one side or to the other.

Then Bildad the Shuhite made answer and said,

Then Job made answer and said,

To whom have your words been said? and whose spirit came out from you?

By him the face of his high seat is veiled, and his cloud stretched out over it.

And Job again took up the word and said,

He makes a deep mine far away from those living in the light of day; when they go about on the earth, they have no knowledge of those who are under them, who are hanging far from men, twisting from side to side on a cord.

And he said to man, Truly the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to keep from evil is the way to knowledge.

And Job again took up the word and said,

When I went out of my door to go up to the town, and took my seat in the public place,

For when it came to their ears, men said that I was truly happy; and when their eyes saw, they gave witness to me;

Then I said, I will come to my end with my children round me, my days will be as the sand in number;